Were you put out of a job just of your gender or because you were not confident or strong enough like everyone else? In the 1920’s and 1930’s they had specific gender roles for men and women. Women had to cook, clean, and stay home with the kids while the men work all day. The children had to experience this at a young age to be ready for adulthood. The novel To Kill a Mockingbird have many social inequalities that occur and in our society today. One social inequality for To Kill a Mockingbird is racism. The Tom Robinson case for example. First the beginning when Tom testified. What I’ve seen is how the whites look or stare at the blacks and also how the blacks give respect to them even though the white doesn’t give respectfulness to the African Americans. Overall, all the blacks still is treated like their nothing. “Four Negroes rose and gave us their front-row seats” (p.219). The blacks gave up their seats because their white and still receive to them with courage. …show more content…
About the Cunningham's, the poor family in May comb, Alabama in the 1930's. Aunt Alexandra told Scout and Jam they can’t play with young Walter Cunningham because he’s “trash”. Scout can’t understand why Aunt Alexandra would say something like that or despise the Cunningham's So; Scout gets upset and fled up to her bedroom. “She looked at me over her sewing glasses. Jean Louise, there is no doubt in my mind that they’re good folks. But they’re not our kind of folks"(p.299). Aunt Alexandra tries to explain to Scout that she shouldn’t be hanging out with people like that who dress in raggedy clothes or can’t afford materials like Scout family’s
In To kill a mockingbird by Harper Lee, people were judged by unfair standards that resulted in oppression. Scout and Jem are the children of a white lawyer who has to defend a black man accused of raping a white female. In the 1930’s in Maycomb, Alabama, equal rights were not a factor. Which says that the problems of human inequality and the divisions within society are unfair and unjust, like Boo Radley being treated unequally by others. People were judged regarding their race, economic status, or social standing.
The novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, takes place during the Great Depression in Southern Alabama. Throughout the story Scout (narrator and main character) and her older brother Jem try to understand what social inequality means and what causes it. Since their father Atticus Finch was a lawyer, with high moral standards, they were higher up in the social class. Atticus taught his children that everyone should be treated the same and with respect, no matter where they came from. People should not judge people based on their abilities or appearance because it does not define who they are.
Within today’s world and all the way through history, everyone is either defined as a girl or boy. A simple concept known as a person’s sex or gender. Gender has established roles for each of the different sexes in which people are pushed in a guideline. As society advances there so often comes up with outliers, challengers, or rebels that propose against society’s gender rules. Harper Lee or the author of How to Kill a Mockingbird mentions the topic of gender and how people discriminate on it frequently. Even in times people push their children or even peers to being what they don’t personally feel like they are, as some transgender parents often due. Harper Lee wants to inferences that gender is a defining society rule.
In To Kill A Mockingbird, Walter Cunningham, a Scout friend, has barely enough money to put clothes on their back and food on the table, and sometimes not even that. The Cunninghams are not the poorest of the families in Maycomb, but not far off. Unlike the Ewells, the Cunninghams are honest and well mannered people. They are only considered lower class due to their financial situation. Scout and Walter are good friends, but one day in school Scout notices how Walter doesn't wear shoes or have lunch, “He didn’t forget his lunch, he didn’t have any.
America has drastically changed throughout the years and has improved to become better. Although the past has problems with gender, socio-economics, age and ethnicity. The main problem that was in the past that even still happens today is ethnicity. Ethnicity inequality was a big problem involving African Americans, but are slowly changing today. Back in the days, racism was a huge problem that we had. Black people were slaves and treated poorly. Segregation has been a cause for an example, School and busses were separated by skin color. There were two schools, one for white skinned and one for the black skins. They even had separate drinking fountains and sit sat in the back of the busses. They were sometimes openly abused just for doing nothing. It’s
In a desperate attempt to save his client, Tom Robinson, from death, Atticus Finch boldly declares, “To begin with, this case should never have come to trial. This case is as simple as black and white” (Lee 271). The gross amounts of lurid racial inequality in the early 20th century South is unfathomable to the everyday modern person. African-Americans received absolutely no equality anywhere, especially not in American court rooms. After reading accounts of the trials of nine young men accused of raping two white women, novelist Harper Lee took up her pen and wrote To Kill a Mockingbird, a blistering exposition of tragic inequalities suffered by African Americans told from the point of view of a young girl. Though there are a few trivial differences between the events of the Scottsboro trials and the trial of Tom Robinson portrayed in To Kill a Mockingbird, such as the accusers’ attitudes towards attention, the two cases share a superabundance of similarities. Among these are the preservation of idealist views regarding southern womanhood and excessive brutality utilized by police.
In the novel, ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ by Harper Lee some characters suffer in the hands of justice and fairness more than others. Many characters in the novel are discriminated against such as Calpurnia, Dolphus Raymond, Helen Robinson, Burris Ewell and more. However I will be focusing on the discrimination against Tom Robinson for his race, Walter Cunningham for his low socioeconomic status and Boo Radley for the rumors and supposed mental instability he holds. I chose those three because they are the most prominent and I will discuss how the discrimination against the characters therefore leads to their injustice or unfairness.
However, their lack of money was a result to Mr. Cunningham not wanting to accept assistance from anyone out of fear of causing them an inconvenience (Lee 20). Walter Cunningham is referred to as having hookworms and not having shoes (Lee 19). He is discussed between Scout and Miss Caroline when she realizes that he did not have a lunch and offers to loan him money (Lee 19,20). Scout explains, “‘The Cunninghams never took anything they can’t pay back-no church baskets no scrip stamps. They never took anything off of anybody, they get along on what they have. They don’t have much, but they get along on it’” (Lee 20). By this encounter, Scout hoped to educate Miss Caroline on the status of Walter’s family and states “‘That’s okay, ma’am, you’ll get to know all the country folks after a while” (Lee 20). Walter Cunningham, is also discussed between Scout and her Aunt Alexandra, later in the novel, after the encounter with him and Miss Caroline (Lee 223,224).Scout had hoped to defend Walter and is pleased with herself for the action she took (Lee 223). She thinks she should invite him to spend the night with them sometime, but quickly realizes that Aunt Alexandra has other views of the Cunninghams (Lee 223). Aunt Alexandra states, “‘But they’re not our kind of folks….you can scrub Walter Cunningham till he shines, you can put him in shoes and a new suit, but he’ll never be like
The Cunninghams are mistreated by part of the society in Maycomb. Aunt Alexandra, who mistreats them the most, is prejudiced toward the Cunninghams, she does not like them. She thinks that her reputation, and social status are going to be stained if Scout plays with Walter Jr.. Scout wants to invite Walter over, but Aunt Alexandra does not like Walter, she says that they are folks from different class. She thinks it is best if they do not see each other. She once talks to Scout about how different they are, "Because - he - is - trash, that's why you can't play with him.
How would you like it if someone walked up to you and berated you based on the color of your skin? A characteristic like that isn’t even something you can control, so an insult of that nature can leave one furious and oppressed. Discrimination is inevitable in any culture, throughout history, in modern times, and even in ancient times. For example, the oppression and murder of 6 million Jewish people during the Holocaust, the African Slave Trade which occurred for multiple centuries, and more recently, the “ethnic cleansing” of Rohingya people in Myanmar, brought on by the government of the Asian nation, all of which are tragedies doomed to happen when history repeats itself and people do not learn
Steven Heidenreich Mr.P Freshman English May 16, 2017 Racisms Error Throughout the book To Kill a Mockingbird there are many morals but, the moral of the story that prevailed was racism. The Author for this book Harper Lee, is a well known author for books on social injustices. In this book, To Kill a Mockingbird, there are injustices talked about such as ageism, sexism, and racism.
Throughout the years social Equality has improved Social equality by definition means a state of affairs in which all people within a specific society or isolated group have the same status in certain respects, including civil rights, freedom of speech, property rights and equal access to certain social goods and services. In the Book To Kill a Mockingbird the author Harper Lee states through fiction the way people were treated during the great depression. Through the comparison of character interactions in the novel and the influence of current events, it is revealed that the concept of social equality has greatly changed from the 1930s to present day. During the 1930s social equality wasn’t a thing given to everyone.
Racism. racism is the prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race, based on the belief that one's own race is superior. This belief has been around for many years, ever since the beginning of humanity. Many experts say that racism started in the colonial era and is know starting to diminish. Nonetheless there are still people who believe in the supremacy of their race and think someone's ethnicity makes up their personality. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee the people of Maycomb treat African Americans like they're second class citizens. In this Novel, Lee expresses one’s appearance doesn't change people of other ethnicities character and opinions. In which Lee means your appearance can’t change
There were many different forms of discrimination in To Kill a Mockingbird. People were judged based on their race, social status, and even gender. There were many times where people were not treated like regular people. The book was set in the south during the early to mid 1930’s. Life for black people, women, and lower level people was clearly depicted as challenging & difficult.
Scout mentions wanting to have Walter Cunningham, a kid from a poor family, over for dinner. Aunt Alexandra proceeds to say no, because, “They’re not our kind of folks”(Lee 299). Scout digs in, as to why not, pushing Aunt Alexandra to say, “The thing is, you can scrub Walter Cunningham till he shines, you can put him in shoes and a new suit, but he’ll never be like Jem”(Lee 300). This illustrates the mindset of Aunt Alexandra, and how she believes Walter Cunningham is a “lesser” of a person than them simply because he comes from a poor family. For Aunt Alexandra, wealth is a sign of a good person.